Damage high at Dinajpur brickfields after sudden rain

Operators worried as Met office forecasts more rain within week

A large quantity of raw bricks lie badly damaged on the premises of a brick kiln in Birganj upazila of Dinajpur following Friday and Saturday's unexpected rain in the northern region during the ongoing dry season. Photo: Star

Our Correspondent, Dinajpur

Brick kiln operators in Dinajpur have incurred heavy losses in sudden rain on Friday and Saturday during the dry season when the sale of bricks reaches its peak.

The meteorological office said in Dinajpur, they recorded 19 millimetres of rainfall that started on Friday night and continued till late night on Saturday.

There are 265 brick kilns in 13 upazilas of the district, according to office of the deputy commissioner.

Abu Bakkar Siddique, manager at Home Bricks in Dinajpur Sadar upazila, said Friday's rain damaged around 7,00,000 pieces of unbaked bricks in the brickfield. “We tried in vain to protect a large quantity of the bricks with coverings of polythene sheets,” he said.

As many as 32 brick kilns in Birganj upazila saw the heaviest damage as around 1 million bricks were damaged there due to the unexpected rain.

Naresh Chandra Roy, a worker at FBM Bricks in Birganj upazila, said he along with other workers were struggling to cover the raw bricks with polythene sheets.

During a visit to the brickfield yesterday, this correspondent found the workers cleaning up the damaged bricks.

Shahidul Islam, manager of NHB bricks in Birganj upazila, said around 1.5 million bricks in his field were damaged during the rain.

He said they faced a similar situation last year. “Brickfield operators in the district face huge losses for such sudden rain.”

Mohammad Rokonuzzaman, owner of Abrar Bricks in the same upazila, said they also had around 1.5 million bricks damaged by the rain in the brickfield.

“It'll take at least one month to make the same number of raw bricks that were damaged,” he added.

Although yesterday was dry and sunny, the Met office forecasts that more rain is on the way in the region during the rest of the week.